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With more than 8,000 members, the Greater Cleveland Partnership is one of the largest metropolitan chambers of commerce in the country. Learn about our work to advance economic development and improve the business climate in our city, region and state.

News Highlights

News

Tim Ryan, PwC US Chairman and Senior Partner, keynoted the Commission’s annual CEO Forum on Monday, March 12. Ryan spoke to nearly 200 CEOs and senior leaders from GCP member companies about his decision to talk openly about race in the workplace.

The General Assembly unveiled the 2018 state capital bill last week. Companion bills – HB 529 and SB 266 – were released in the Ohio House and Senate Finance Committees.

The total bill provides $2.63 billion for capital bill appropriations and roughly $150 million for community projects. Cuyahoga County projects received more than $20 million in funding with more than half of that funding going to projects recommended by GCP. Most notably, $2.5 million was secured to continue efforts to stabilize Irishtown Bend, the hillside along the Cuyahoga River.

The GCP PAC is a nonpartisan, member-driven endeavor committed to advancing the business community’s interests by building and reinforcing relationships and supporting candidates and current elected officials at the state and local levels of government.

Northeast Ohio continued to see substantial business and real estate investment in 2017, and GCP and its numerous economic development partners played a significant role in the many expansion and attraction efforts throughout the region.

The GCP Business Development Team served as a critical partner in 52 business expansion and attraction projects in Cuyahoga County during the year that will result in nearly 7,000 new jobs and over a billion dollars in capital investment.

With the expected release of the Fiscal Year 2019 federal budget today, Marty McGann, GCP’s Senior Vice President of Advocacy, along with Alesha Washington, Vice President of Government Advocacy, sat down to discuss several priorities that the organization will be monitoring in throughout the budget process.

This week, GCP along with several member companies and other chambers of commerce testified in support of HB 160 – the Ohio Fairness Act. If passed, the legislation would add gender identity and sexual orientation to the list of protected classes in Ohio’s Civil Rights law. Support for HB 160 follows GCP’s recent endorsement of Ohio Business Competes, a coalition of more than 300 companies that supports statewide non-discrimination policies for the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer community.

Amazon recently selected 20 finalists for the company's second headquarters. Although Cleveland did not make the list, Columbus is still in the running.

“While we are certainly disappointed that Cleveland was not selected for the second round of the Amazon HQ2 bidding process, the collaboration of the public and private partners to tell Cleveland’s story will generate long-term benefits for all of Northeast Ohio,” said Joe Roman, President and CEO of the GCP. “We are pleased and congratulate Columbus for making it to the second round and are committed to supporting their efforts to land Amazon HQ2 in Ohio.”

Members of the GCP have increasingly identified cybersecurity as an emerging issue and significant challenge. On January 10, Tim Opsitnick (executive vice president & general counsel at Technology Concepts & Design, Inc.) presented verbal testimony, on behalf of the GCP, in support of Senate Bill 220 (SB 220).

The Greater Cleveland Partnership provides a unified voice for the Northeast Ohio business community and our policy priorities are driven directly by our members.

In 2017, a $1.5 trillion federal tax reform package was signed into law and the 132nd Ohio General Assembly introduced more than 700 pieces of legislation. In addition, numerous local initiatives were debated, including several crucial ballot measures that allowed the voters to help determine what the regional landscape will look like in the future.

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Greater Cleveland Partnership

Our Mission

The Greater Cleveland Partnership mobilizes private-sector leadership, expertise and resources to create attractive business conditions that create jobs, grow investment and improve the economic prosperity of the region.